Dean White may get scouting role at Sunderland

SUNDERLAND are lining up Steve Bruce’s former Gillingham team-mate Dean White as the club’s new chief scout in the wake of Ricky Sbragia’s surprise departure.

Ex-midfielder White played alongside the Sunderland boss at the Priestfield Stadium for a year before Bruce moved on to Norwich City in 1984.

The 52-year-old made more than 100 appearances for Millwall and Gillingham in his playing career. He finished his playing career at Hastings Town and later managed his hometown club.

He was chief scout and assistant manager at Brighton and also spent a short spell there as caretaker-manager in 2009 following the departure of Micky Adams.

Sunderland parted company with former caretaker manager Ricky Sbragia last week, despite chairman Niall Quinn having promised him “a job for life” just a couple of years previously when he successfully kept the club in the Premier League.

Sbragia had headed their scouting set-up for the last 18 months but Bruce is now looking to make a quick appointment to guarantee the club does not lose momentum in its efforts to recruit the right players this summer.